Uganda Has Recorded its First Ebola Fatality Since the Outbreak Ended in 2023
A nurse in Uganda has died from Ebola, according to a health official, marking the first recorded death since the previous outbreak ended in 2023. Diana Atwine, the health ministry’s permanent secretary, told reporters Thursday that the 32-year-old male nurse worked at Mulago Hospital, the largest referral centre in Kampala. After acquiring a fever, he was treated in different Ugandan locales before multiple lab testing revealed that he had Ebola. The individual died on Wednesday, and postmortem tests proved that he had the Sudan type of Ebola, Atwine added.
According to Uganda’s Ministry of Health, at least 44 victims’ contacts have been identified, including 30 health personnel and Mulago Hospital patients. The health authorities are “in full control of the situation,” Atwine stated, urging Ugandans to report any suspected instances. Tracing contacts is critical to preventing the spread of Ebola, and there are no licensed vaccinations for the Sudan strain. Uganda’s last outbreak, detected in September 2022, killed at least 55 individuals before being declared over in January 2023.
The confirmation of Ebola in Uganda is the latest in a series of viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks in East Africa. Tanzania declared an epidemic of the Ebola-like Marburg disease earlier this month, and Rwanda stated in December that its own Marburg outbreak had ended. The ongoing Marburg outbreak in northern Tanzania’s Kagera region has killed at least two individuals, according to locals.
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